In documents seen by Reuters, the six nations say the pact will "seek to address energy, climate change and air pollution issues within a paradigm of economic development" and will "complement but not replace the Kyoto protocol".

The United States and Australia are the only developed nations outside Kyoto, which demands cuts in greenhouse emissions by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12. Both say Kyoto is flawed because it omits developing states.

US President George W. Bush said in a statement on Wednesday the Asia-Pacific partnership would address global warming while promoting economic development.

The inaugural meeting will be held in the southern Australian city of Adelaide and attended by foreign, environment and energy ministers from the six nations.

The six nations have likened the pact to a climate change plan of action agreed by the Group of Eight powers in Scotland earlier this month, with both emphasising the importance of strategic technology development in addressing climate change.

One such technology identified by the partnership will be the development and adoption of commercial carbon capture and storage technologies, which the six nations see as playing a crucial role in enabling deep cuts in global greenhouse emissions.

The partnership will release a vision statement and is open to more like-minded countries joining the pact in the future.

As economies expand, the world is consuming more energy and is producing more greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels such as coal in power plants and petrol in cars.

According to figures to be released by the partnership, the six founding partners of the new pact account for 45 percent of the world's population, 48 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and 48 percent of the world's energy consumption.

Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell said on Wednesday that the countries had been quietly working on the pact for months.

"It's quite clear the Kyoto protocol won't get the world to where it wants to go ... We have got to find something that works better -- Australia is working on that with partners around the world," Campbell told reporters.

The Kyoto protocol, first agreed in 1997, came into force in February after Russia ratified it is of limited use because many signatories are far above their emission targets.

The United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said world temperatures are likely to rise between 1.4 and 5.8 degrees Celsius by 2100, linked to the build-up of greenhouse gases from human activities.